I don't want to make money from street photography

Back in the days I thought I was just too afraid of not being a commercial photographer. But do we always need to turn our passion into a paid job? Yesterday I had a little conversation with a workmate. She works at the lounge area and is taking care of the coffee machine and meals served. She told me about her talent to refurbish old furniture to turn them into little treasures. She showed me some photos and I was blown away by her skills and creativity. The first question I asked her was: "why don't you start a busines?" and she responded: "maybe I outsell my passion and it becomes just ordinary work with too much pressure".

Is it okay to think that way? Is she just afraid of starting a business? I don't think so. There is not one way to do things and we live in a world where nearly everything has a certain value in terms of money. You can easily outsell your whole passion and get sucked into a business thing that will leave you unsatisfied and stuffed with customers, bills and taxes. Trust your inner voice if you really want to start a business. Don't follow other people who did it. It was their decision, not yours. If people telling you that real success is becoming wealthy with you own company they may just have a different definition of what success means for them.



Trust me, there is no black or white. Maybe you can just reduce the hours you spend at work (just ask your boss) and start a smaller version of your business in the spare time and decide later if it feels right to you. There are thousands of possibilities. If you see other people being successful it doesn't mean that it will work for you the same way.

I don't want to start a street photography business. This kind of photography is too personal for me. It is my kind of "Wanderlust" and a kind of meditation. I have the feeling that it should not be taking place in my life as a business.

And don't forget: the most important thing is to not lose your passion by imitating what other people do. Get inspired by the work of other people.

Cheers,

Nils


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why should you buy the new X-PRO2?

Image
I wrote some articles about the X-PRO1/2 in the past. I mentioned there that you don´t need to upgrade your camera if you're happy with it. Maybe you spend the money on travel, prints or some more lenses. If you are starting from the scratch or need a faster and better camera I will tell you why this camera is perfect for you: the rangefinder style - if you shooting street or reportage etc. it is great to use a camera that won't cover your whole face to maintain eye contact with your subject (this is not the case with the X-T1) faster auto focus even in near dark environments - I often missed a shot because of this with my X100s, X-PRO1 (but you can also use an X-T1) weather sealing - in conjunction with a water proof lens you can now do some shots without fearing a malfunction inside your precious camera more responsive - the faster cpu will make this camera more like an analog one where everything happens when you press a button without too many lagging ISO dial -...
More information »

Yesterday I sold my Ricoh GR III and traded it for a X100F

Image
Disclaimer: This is my personal opinion and the camera might work for you. This is not a Fuji is better than everything post :-) I've tried to love the Ricoh and have a little list with pros and cons: The good Size - If you need an APS-C sensor pocket camera, this is the one! The lens is superb and walks back into the body making it a super duper small camera! Image quality - the files have a great range and a neutral color reproduction. Nothing to complain. Craftmanship - the camera body is sturdy. Even the moving lens works flawless. The bad Menu - the menu system is not as easy as I know it from my Fuji gear. There are some nice ideas like the custom settings that can be tied to the mode-wheel, but overall I was not satisfied. Shutter button - a soft mess for me. It failed for me when it comes to a half press lock many times. It doesn't feel right for me. Display - in bright sunlight you are lost. I've also missed the possibility to review a photo through the EVF in brig...
More information »

The GF 100-200m - first impressions

Image
  I did it. After selling my whole Fuji rig last year in trade for a GFX50r combined with the 62mm 2.8 it was followed by the 50mm 3.5 and now the 100-200mm 5.6. Without a telephoto lens something is missing for me. Sometimes you need the compression and the depth of field provided by such a lens for portraits, architecture, landscapes and for things far away. In future I also want to buy the teleconverter to beef up the focal length a bit more. There are so many scenes that cry for a telephoto lens. Believe me! :-) My first impression was like expected for a Fuji lens in that price range, the resulting images are sharp with lots of detail without any compromise in color rendition. The bokeh is pleasing and the lens just does the job. There is no tube sticking out of the lens body wich makes the whole thing a bit heavy (but weather sealed) and bulky, but the quality of the results are worth the cramps and muscle pain. This is the hard work that photography was always about with hea...
More information »